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Encountering work failures is not uncommon for employees. Employee learning from work failures is critical to knowledge management and employee development. This study aims to examine leaders’ role in facilitating employee learning from work failures.

A two-wave survey featuring full-time employees in China was conducted to test the hypotheses. Linear regression analyses were adopted.

Leader consideration and leader structure initiation are positively related to employee learning from work failures. Leader structure initiation strengthens the positive relationship between leader consideration and employee learning from work failures. Employee intrinsic motivation mediates the interactive effect of leader consideration and leader structure initiation on employee learning from work failures, such that leader structure initiation strengthens the positive relationship between leader consideration and employee learning from work failures through employee intrinsic motivation.

Despite the importance of employee learning from work failures, little is known about leaders’ role in facilitating such behavior. Whereas leader consideration and structure initiation are distinct and sometimes even competing, this study suggests that they complement each other to exert positive influences on employee learning from work failures. In addition, this study identifies an underlying influence mechanism.

Supervisor consultation is conducive to promoting employee voice. This research examines an underlying mediating mechanism and a boundary condition that strengthens the influence of supervisor consultation.

Two-wave survey data were collected from 302 full-time employees. Path analysis was adopted to test the hypotheses.

Supervisor consultation is positively related to employee voice. Employee felt obligation for constructive change (FOCC) serves as a mediating mechanism. Supervisor consultation is more positively related to employee FOCC and subsequent voice when managerial openness is higher than lower.

This study highlights the incremental mediating effect of FOCC beyond that of two alternative mediators between supervisor consultation and employee voice and the moderating role of managerial openness in affecting the influence of supervisor consultation.

The airline industry has been one of the hardest-hit industries during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aims to examine which flight attendants are likely to positively reappraise job insecurity and subsequently elevate their performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A two-wave (i.e. Time 1 and Time 2), multi-source (i.e. flight attendants and chief flight attendants) survey was conducted. The final sample consists of 408 flight attendants matched with 57 chief flight attendants. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

Flight attendants with an organization-centered career orientation are likely to positively reappraise job insecurity and, in turn, have better job performance than those with a self-centered career orientation.

Flight attendants are likely to experience job insecurity during the COVID-19 crisis. This study highlights a potential positive coping mechanism that is contingent upon flight attendants’ career orientations, facilitating the interaction of the stress-coping and vocational literature in a hospitality context.

Socially responsible organizations strive to foster gender diversity values in the workplace. As women, relative to men, tend to fall victim to gender discrimination more frequently, organizations can promote gender diversity in the workplace by either increasing female employment or discouraging job seekers who resist gender diversity from applying for positions. While more attention has been devoted to the former approach, less attention has been given to the latter.

A between-subjects experiment is conducted to test the hypotheses. Participants are randomly assigned to one of five conditions that feature different numbers of women in job advertisements.

For male job seekers who hold a male breadwinner ideology, their job pursuit intentions decrease as the number of women in job advertisements increases. Perceived person-organization fit acts as the mediating influence.

Job advertisements are purposed to attract job seekers who share similar values. Men who embrace male-dominant values are likely to resist and thwart the progress of gender diversity in the workplace. This study informs practitioners of how by strategically adapting job advertisements, organizations can discourage individuals who are likely to be a poor fit from applying for vacant jobs.

This study focuses on gender discrimination and resistance in a job seeking context from a social dominance perspective. The study informs organizations of the potential benefits of strategically adapting job advertisements.

This study investigates why and when undermined employees exhibit deviant behavior toward coworkers. Drawing upon social exchange theory, coworker undermining reduces employee organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), which in turn, fosters employee negative reciprocal behavior in the form of interpersonal deviance. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC) in affecting the indirect effect.

Data were collected from a two-wave survey. Participants were 316 employees of a service company in western China. Ordinary least squares regressions were used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Coworker undermining is positively related to employee interpersonal deviance, mediated by decreased employee OBSE. In addition, this indirect relationship is more salient for employees with a higher than lower RISC.

This study suggests that employee OBSE serves as an explanation for why coworker undermining leads to employees’ antagonistic consequences. Furthermore, this study highlights the boundary-condition role of RISC in the influence process.

Being ignored or excluded is a painful experience. Belongingness theory suggests that individuals inherently desire for belongingness and social interactions. This study aims to explore whether ostracized employees take actions to seek potential re-inclusion in the workplace.

Data were collected from a two-wave survey. Ordinary least squares regressions were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Workplace ostracism is positively associated with victims’ impression management behaviors (i.e. self-promotion and exemplification) through need for approval. In addition, these indirect relationships are more salient for victims with stronger self-face concerns.

This study examines how ostracized employees strive for potential re-inclusion and who are more likely to seek approval. Specifically, this study identifies two impression management behaviors as victims’ potential re-inclusion tactics in response to ostracism in the workplace.

Although leader humility is generally considered a positive leadership behavior, this study aims to examine when the positive influences of leader humility are likely weakened.

Data were collected from a two-wave survey. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Although leader humility is positively related to perceived leader support, this relationship is weakened when the environment is uncertain, resulting in comparatively lower follower performance.

Leaders should be aware that environmental constraints may weaken the desired outcomes of humility and therefore adapt leadership to situational needs.

Contrasting to predominant research on leader humility, this study examines a critical boundary condition by which its positive influences are compromised. In light of the disruption caused by the ongoing COVID-19, this study suggests that what usually are considered positive characteristics of leader humility are likely perceived as little leader support when the environment is uncertain. Findings of this study echo contingency leadership theories, which suggest that effective leadership should be context-dependent.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the negative consequences of employee perceptions of supervisor self-interested behavior (SIB). Using social exchange theory, the authors argue that perceived supervisor SIB reduces affective commitment to the supervisor (ACS), which in turn fosters employees’ negative reciprocal behavior in the form of counterproductive work behavior – interpersonal (CWBI) and counterproductive work behavior – organizational (CWBO). In addition, the authors identify employee power distance orientation (PDO) as an important contingent factor that influences the indirect effects.

Using a final sample of 441 employees from 146 workgroups across 6 firms in China, the hypotheses are tested using multilevel path analysis to account for the nesting effects.

Perceived supervisor SIB is negatively related to ACS, which in turn is related to employee CWBI and CWBO. Furthermore, employee PDO moderates the indirect effects of perceived supervisor SIB on employee CWBI and CWBO through decreased ACS. Specifically, when employee PDO is low, the indirect effects on employee CWBI and CWBO are stronger.

This is one of the first studies to investigate the influence of employee perceptions of supervisor SIB on negative employee behavior in the workplace. Furthermore, it furthers our understanding of how negative exchange can stimulate negative reciprocal behavior, which is a relatively underexplored area. Another strength of this paper is the multi-time survey design and the adoption of multilevel path analysis.

A plethora of organizational studies have found employee narcissism to be an unfavorable trait that impedes job functioning. Yet, the elevated confidence and self-assuredness associated with the narcissistic personality can also drive individuals to show initiative behavior. This paper aims to investigate how and when employees with narcissistic personalities can potentially contribute positively to effective functioning.

Data were collected from 91 supervisors and 273 subordinates in a corporate setting in central China. To account for the nesting effects, multilevel path analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses.

Employee narcissism is positively related to psychological ownership, which in turn is positively related to initiative behavior in the workplace. Furthermore, job meaningfulness moderates the indirect effect of employee narcissism on initiative behavior through psychological ownership. Specifically, the indirect effect is more salient when the employee perceives higher, rather than lower, job meaningfulness.

This study examines how employees with narcissistic personalities can show initiative at work. Specifically, this research uncovers the underlying psychological mechanism as well as the boundary condition that facilitate this process. This study affirms the importance of self-determination for narcissistic employees and sheds light on how these employees can potentially contribute positively to effective functioning. Insights for theory, practice and future research are also discussed.